Turbine blades used in high performance gas turbine engines are subject to time varying aerodynamic forces that cause the blades to vibrate and potentially fail due to material fatigue. To increase reliability and cycle life of individual components, such as blades, within the engine high strength materials have been used. Additionally, attempts have been made to avoid coincidence of turbine blade natural frequencies and the frequencies associated with unsteady aerodynamic forces. Furthermore, attempts have been made to reduce the effectiveness of the aerodynamic forces that cause blade vibrations. And, attempts have been made to increase the damping which controls the blade vibration magnitude.
The present invention is directed to overcome one or more of the problems as set forth above.